PHILADELPHIA – The court seemed to shift heavily in Philadelphia’s favor late in Game 3. Shaquille O’Neal fouled out with 2:21 left. What a perfect time to exploit the inside. The Lakers were no longer big.

So the Sixers went small and yanked Dikembe Mutombo?

“I felt like I could go small and relieve the pressure, and Larry [Sixers coach Brown] matched me going small and taking Mutombo out of the game. I think it helped us out a lot,” said Lakers coach Phil Jackson, who’ll look to lead his gang to a 3-1 Finals lead in Philly tomorrow night. “We had some space to work, we had some open opportunity to drive.”

While Mutombo seemed annoyed and confused with the decision Sunday night – “I really don’t understand the things that we did in the end . . . I would not say that I’m very pleased with it” – he was much more willing to accept it yesterday when Brown explained his controversial move to go with four guards.

“We never had the lead. I took him [Mutombo] out with 1:34 [left]. I thought I made a hell of a substitution. Kevin Ollie made a three-point play,” Brown said. “I was trying to substitute offense and defense. But two of the possessions we had to foul, so it wouldn’t have mattered. And then when we had timeouts, we had to get quick scores, either 3-pointers or drive-in plays. In both cases, we had a chance to get fouled . . . We felt it was necessary that we put our pressing team, which got us back in the game.

*

George Lynch insists he’ll be back tomorrow night. The defensively-stout Sixer forward who fractured his left foot in the Toronto series says it is no longer a question of “if” he’ll play but how much.

“I think the decision is already made: I’m going to try to play Wednesday. The question is, ‘How much can I do?'”

*

Reported on FoxSportsNet after Game 3: Bryant, in response to heckling Philly fans retaliated saying, “We’re going to cut your hearts out Wednesday.”